Challenge 10:: Editt:: finished

Editt: all finished. 

I decided to go with different fabric, from what I showed in the drafting post. I though that fabric, which is a shiny, thin beautiful cotton, was too stiff, and wouldn't drape fluidly enough. 

Instead, I went with another fabric from my stash, something I bought many years ago. A very thin, slightly crinkled, man made material. But it was silky enough for this design. 

I was very worried about working with this fabric. It is a little chiffon-like, but less shifty. Almost no bias stretch at all. I worked once before with chiffon, and it was a nightmare. Ended in a trash bin. So I ran out to buy a large piece of fleece, because I read once, somewhere, that to cut chiffon without shifting, you can place it over fleece. And it worked. Not that I enjoyed it that much. But it worked.

The tough part was doing the bias strip around the neck and arms openings. It was so slippery. I ended up using the smallest zig-zag stitch to finish it, to make sure it does not slip away. One good thing is that my machine did not attempt to eat the fabric, not even once. I had that experience once with silk. Never finished that project, because I could not figure out what the problem was.

All in all, this turned out very nicely. It took a bit longer than expected, because of the fabric, but I am very happy with it. I have to say though, my favorite fabrics to work with, by far, are linen and cotton. But you can't make everything out of cotton. Or can you?

I had some left over fabric, so I made it into a scarf. Long enough to tie around the waist. 

Some techniques you might find useful:

Facing or Detail: Bias Binding

Gathering Sitches

Previous Challenge 10 posts:

Challenge 10:: Editt:: intro

Challenge 10:: Editt:: drafting

Challenge 10:: Editt:: muslin and modifications

Challenge 10:: Editt:: muslin and modifications

A thrifted shirt makes a very economic, but not necessarily sightly, muslin. This choice also posed another problem: this fabric was a bit too stiff for this top, but I was not going to cut another one, so I had to use my imagination and hope for the best.

The fit was mostly OK: the shoulder and the front gathers, the overall drape. But I felt it was a bit too wide around the bust. 

When I cut muslin I do not include seam allowances for the neck/arm openings for sleeveless tops with a simple neckline (no closures or collars). That way I can see the final size, without finishing them.

I did just one small, simple modification: I took in 1 cm on the side seam on the back, not the front. This is what the muslin looks like after the modification. A little less width at the bust.

This is what I did on the pattern - simply redraw the side seam 1 cm in. I also reshape the arm opening a bit. That's it.

Next, the finished Editt top...

Previous Challenge 10 posts:

Challenge 10:: Editt:: intro

Challenge 10:: Editt:: drafting

Challenge 10:: Editt:: drafting

So, in this Challenge, we are going to be modifying the Basic Block 1 (on the left) to get the pattern for the top on the right. 

As in the previous challenge, I printed and cut out the pattern for the Basic Block 1. There are two pieces, as shown below (remember, the pattern does not include seam allowances):

We will start with the front. First, redraw the neckline. I measured 4 cm from the neck on the shoulder seam and 9 cm down the midline. These numbers are arbitrary and you can choose your own... This time, I want the shoulder to be a bit wider than on the Ulla top, so I took just 1.5 cm off from the arm opening. 

Since this is another wide/deep neckline, I will tighten it as well. It is the same as for Ulla top last week: draw a line from the Bust Point (BP) to the new neckline at about 1/3 of the length of the neckline from the midline. Then measure 0.5 cm down, toward the midline and draw another line to BP. These two lines form a small "dart" that we'll cut out and close. 

Redraw the arm opening. You could have done it in the previous step. I just forgot.

Cut out the new neckline, arm opening, the bust dart and the new "dart" at the neckline. Remember to cut the dart to, but not through the BP. You don't want the two pieces of the pattern to separate.

Now move the smaller part of the pattern to the right, until you close the neckline "dart". Tape together. We just moved the neckline dart into the bust dart. This tightens the neckline, and widens the bust dart. Fix (smooth) the neck curve if needed.

Now the back... Reshape the neckline first. Move the neck point 4 cm down the shoulder seam, and deepen the neck opening by 5 cm (or choose your own values).

Now the dart... We will move it into the hemline, same as for the Ulla top. So, draw a line straight down from the tip of the shoulder dart to the hemline. Cut along that line to, but not through the tip. Cut out the shoulder dart. Put some paper under the pattern, and close the shoulder dart as you wish... depending on how much flare you want to add along the hemline. This time I opened it about 3cm (measured at the hemline). I will simply ignore the remaining shoulder dart and blend it in the design. Tape to the paper below to secure and cut out.

Next, align the front and the back, such that neck openings match. Tape together. Redraw the back arm opening and fix the neck curves, if they are not smooth across the shoulder seam. Then draw a line 5 cm away from the neck seam line, parallel to the seam line, on the front pattern. This will be the "yoke". It's not really a yoke, since it will be a part of the back pattern, but I don't know what else to call it. Cut along that line.

Back to the front pattern. Now we will move the bust dart into the shoulder seam (the new shoulder seam or the "yoke") to get the gathers. (I did the same thing in week 6) So... draw a line from BP to the middle of the shoulder seam (point 1) and then measure about 1.5 cm on each side of 1 to mark points 2 and 3. I placed * marks about 1 cm away from points 2 and 3 - you will be gathering between those points. Cut along the lines from 1, 2 and 3 to BP (but not through). Now place some paper under the shoulder part of the pattern and close and tape the bust dart. Fan out the cut out pieces evenly and tape to the paper below. Reshape the shoulder seam and cut out.

And now for the front gathers... We need to add some width at the midline. Mark * at the desired distance from the midline. Make sure that it is on the flat part of the curve, otherwise your neckline might not keep shape after gathering. In my case, * is 2 cm away from the midline. I will add 3 cm to the width - in other words move the midline 3 cm to the right. I was a little lazy, and did not actually add it to the pattern. I will add it when I cut the fabric - I will simply move the "old" midline 3 cm away from the fabric fold.

The * mark is also important for finishing the neckline. In my case, after gathering, the distance between * marks will have to be 4 cm. That way I will know that I have the same neckline after gathering... (this is a sneak peak of the fabric I will be using!)

And that's it. This is what front and back look after all the modifications (well, except the added width in the front). I just noticed I will have to smooth the arm curve on the back a bit more.. it's not smooth across the original shoulder seam.

Next: muslin...

Previous Challenge 10 posts:

Challenge 10:: Editt:: intro

Challenge 10:: Editt:: intro

This week we are continuing making simple sleeveless tops using the basic block 1 pattern available here. I named Challenge 10 top: Editt. No reason really.

Basic Block 1

Editt top

This will be another relatively easy modification. We will reshape neck and arm as in Challenge 9 - except the neckline will be less deep. Then we will move the bust dart into the shoulder to create the gathers, and add some gathers in the front. That's it. Oh, and there is the yoke... actually, it's not a yoke, just a pattern change on the shoulder...